Tag Archives: Podcast Movement

For the first time ever, Podcast Movement is bringing you two huge events in 2020. One is called PM: Evolutions, and the other is Podcast Movement 2020.

PM: Evolutions will take place February 12-15, 2020, in Los Angeles, California, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Evolutions will put an increased focus on the ever changing landscape and latest trends of the industry, and deep dive those from every angle.

Featuring three distinctive tracks focused on the attendee’s unique place in podcasting (Industry Professional, Pro Podcaster, Hobbyist Podcaster), content will be tailored to provide the maximum, well-rounded, value for each focused group.

Evolutions is all about the changing landscape of the podcast industry. Whether you’re an industry professional, a full time podcaster, or a hobbyist creator, it’s important to know what is happening in the space around you. That’s where Evolutions comes in.

Like Podcast Movement, the education is at the center of the event, and it will be world class. Unlike Podcast Movement, all sessions will be based on new trends, technology or topics. Think of it as a deep dive into the latest and greatest, and a master class on what you need to know, and what you can let go.

Podcast Movement 2020 will take place August 5-8, 2020, in Dallas, Texas, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. Join over 3,000 podcasters from around the world for over 200 educational sessions, the 100+ exhibitor trade show, and the best parties and networking opportunities in podcasting.

Featuring breakout sessions and panels spread across seven topic-focused tracks, Podcast Movement 2020 will once again be the world’s largest gathering of podcasters, and those involved in the podcast industry.

How are the two events different?

All sessions at Evolutions will be built around the industry’s evolution, versus more widespread topics at PM.

Evolutions education is divided into tracks based on who you are as an attendee, versus the actual topic type.

Evolutions will feature a more intimate environment than Podcast Movement. The event will be at roughly 1,000 attendees, spread across three tracks, and is expected to sell out before February arrives.

Evolutions will mark the return of the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame.

Podcast Movement 2018 will take place on July 23-26, 2018. Tickets are available through the Podcast Movement 2018 website. They are already planning ahead for Podcast Movement 2019 – by kicking off their 28 Day Challenge.

The Podcast Movement 28 Day Challenge offers people an opportunity to launch a brand new podcast. Those who participate will have the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Podcast Movement 2019. The 28 Day Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for people who want to start their first podcast.

Why join the 28 Day Challenge?

Take your podcast from zero to launch in just 28 days

Learn the basic steps to getting your podcast started

Join hundreds of other soon-to-be podcasters in the private Facebook group

The chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Podcast Movement 2019.

There are four steps to follow. The first one is to let Podcast Movement know that you are participating in the 28 Day Challenge. You can do that by clicking a button on their website that is called “Take the Challenge”.

The second step is to follow the Daily Steps. When you sign up to participate in the 28 Day Challenge, you are asked to give Podcast Movement your email. This enables them to send you a daily Step or Tip email, each of which is designed to help walk you through the steps of taking your podcast from zero to launch.

The third step is to let Podcast Movement know how you think you’re doing. They want participants to be active in their private online community. Everyone can work together.

The fourth, and final, step is to show Podcast Movement what you made. Send them information about your new (live) podcast. They will share that information with the Podcast Movement community. Doing so could result in giving everyone in the group new listeners.

Podcast Movement will select 1 winner out of the podcasters who complete the 28 Day Challenge. That winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to Podcaster Movement 2019. Two Grand Prize winners will win a PM 19 Pro Pass. Two Second Place Winners will receive a standard PM 19 Pass. Everyone who completes the 29 Day Challenge will get some amazing PM 19 gifts.

Are you thinking about launching a new podcast? The Podcast Movement 28 Day Challenge can help you do that. It begins on February 1, 2018. Those who participate will have the chance to attend Podcast Movement 2018, all expenses paid.

Why Join the Challenge?

Take your podcast from zero to launch in just 28 days

Learn the basic steps to getting your podcast started

Join hundreds of other soon-to-be podcasters in the private Facebook group

The chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Podcast Movement 2018

To join, you need to click a button on the 28 Day Challenge website. (The button says “Take The Challenge” and is orange.) Then, every morning in February, Podcast Movement will send you a daily Step or Tip, helping walk you through the steps of taking your podcast from zero to launch.

As the 28 Day Challenge takes place, all participants will be active in the private Facebook group. Podcast Movement says there will be hundreds of podcasters taking the challenge, and everyone will work together to get theirs launched.

The last step is to show what you made. Send Podcast Movement all the information on your new (live) podcast, and they will share them all with the Podcast Movement community. This will give you your very first listeners.

Podcast Movement will select five winners out of those who complete the 28 Day Challenge.

A new offering at this year’s Podcast Movement conference in California is the Ignite event that will be held the night before the conference officially opens. Ignite is described as a series of five-minute presentations (called Sparks) consisting of 20 slides that automatically advance every fifteen seconds. Sparks are designed to keep things moving so presenters stay on their toes and audience members remain engaged.

Spark submissions for Podcast Movement’s Ignite 2017 have closed. Now conference organizers are asking registered attendees of Podcast Movement to vote on the Sparks that have been submitted. On the voting form, attendees are shown a list of different Sparks with descriptions provided by the presenters who created them. Attendees are asked to select one of three choices for each Spark: Gotta See It, Sounds Okay, and Meh, I’ll Pass.

While the form is technically open and accessible to anyone, the form instructions stress that only registered attendees of Podcast Movement 2017 should be placing votes. These votes are limited to one vote per person. Spark submissions will be removed if Podcast Movement determines there has been cheating on any Spark’s behalf. There’s also a bit of advice for overeager self-promoters:

You cannot post this on your blog or share it in your podcast asking the public for votes, however, do encourage your fellow PM attendees to head this way and vote for their favorites!

The Spark voting form asks for an e-mail address, and that’s presumably how Podcast Movement will determine which votes are legit and which are not. The voting form for Ignite Podcast Movement 2017 can be found here.

It seems like it’s been only a few months since the Podcast Movement 2016 conference wrapped up in Chicago. The next iteration of the event will occur August 22 – 25 in Anaheim, CA. According to an e-mail recently released by Podcast Movement, registration will open for PM 2017 in just a few weeks:

In what has become a tradition for Podcast Movement, registration for next year’s event will open on “Black Friday”, Friday, November 25 at midnight!

Podcast Movement continues to evolve in our fourth year, and we’re excited to be putting emphasis on some key aspects of the event, including:

Better defined tracks to maximize the learning experience and session choices for all attendees, whether you’re a hobbyist just getting started or an industry veteran!

New networking opportunities and events. A chance to build new and stronger relationships with podcasters, advertisers, service providers and industry professionals.

New scheduling format to make sure you don’t miss anything, from the opening sessions to the closing keynotes! PLUS more time to visit Disneyland with the family!

Lower starting registration prices! Some past attendees asked for lower prices, while others said they’d rather pay more and have us provide food and drinks, so we’re giving attendees more options!

The current registration page on the Podcast Movement website refers to the 2016 event. This will likely be updated on or just before November 25th to reflect 2017 pricing.

Here at Podcaster News, we do our best to provide the facts on items that we think would be of interest to the podcasting community, and allow our readers to form their own opinions on the topics we cover. Personally, I don’t like the idea of “review exchanges” for directories like the iTunes Store. But I can see how this type of thing might appeal to others. Keep in mind that, while iTunes reviews can be helpful, it’s been proven that they have no impact on your ranking in the iTunes Store. That being stated, here’s some information on Pobcast, a new review exchange service that is currently seeking beta testers.

According to a Pobcast Reddit thread, Pobcast is a “real review” system that doesn’t rely on bots or paid services to get reviews for your show. In order to join the Pobcast beta, users must register at the developer’s website and add their iTunes username and podcast to the review system. (The iTunes username is needed in order to track and verify reviews users have committed to in the Pobcast system.) Users can then find shows that are looking for reviews. Once they’ve placed their reviews, and those reviews have been confirmed by the recipient accounts, those users will now be eligible to receive reviews on their own shows.

Pobcast states the service is different from other review swaps for these reasons:

No one can cheat the review process, if you spam reviewed. It won’t work unless the user has confirmed it. If your review has not been confirmed, you don’t get reviewed back

It’s NOT a direct exchange, everyone is in the pot. Meaning if you review someone, they don’t have to review you back. As long as it’s confirmed anyone can review you. Which works better in the long term. *Example: Podcast A reviews Podcast B & Podcast B review A. iTunes can see that you both exchanged direct reviews and could discard it. My method is that if you are podcast A and you review B. Podcast C/D/E/F… will review you. *

The podcast links are fixed to the system, so you cannot duplicate or cheat the system. Once it is in the system, there is no way to remove it. If you try to cheat, your podcast will be permanently disabled for future reviews.

You can track all the reviews from any user from all over the world. With direct links to each reviewer and it’s so easy to manage.

If you don’t think a podcast deserves 4 or 5 stars, you can skip it and go to the next. You will NOT get penalized for skipping podcasts.

As stated above, Pobcast reviews must be either four or five stars in order for them to be accepted by the system. If users feel a show doesn’t deserve at least four stars, they’re encouraged to skip reviewing that show and move on to another. This creates a baseline level of integrity for the actual reviews. But if podcasters are using Pobcast mainly to get reviews on their own shows, then they’ll be more likely to leave four or five-star reviews in order to get more reviews back. That doesn’t automatically mean that those reviews aren’t honest. But it does open Pobcast up to at least a little gaming of the system. After all, reviews on directories like the iTunes Store are meant to be honest commentaries of people who’ve actually listened to those shows. But it’s assured that some Pobcast users will be there strictly to get more reviews for their own shows, and that could lead them to leave generic reviews for the other shows involved, just to get more reviews for their own shows.

If you’d like to sign up for the Pobcast beta or learn more about the service, check out the links at the top of this post.

Summer is fast approaching and it’s apparently become the season of podcast awards. Two different podcast awards competitions, the Peoples Choice Podcast Awards and the Academy of Podcasters Awards, both recently announced the nominees for their respective award categories. While there may be some minor overlap between the two awards systems, they both work differently and completely independent of each other.

The Peoples Choice Podcast Awards is now in its 11th round. Commonly referred to as just “the Podcast Awards,” nominees for this awards system are determined by online voting, followed by a vetting and qualification period. Then, podcasts are chosen to compete in the following categories:

Peoples Choice

Arts

Business

Comedy

Education

Entertainment

Games & Hobbies GLBT

Government & Organizations

Health

Kids & Family

Mature

Music

News & Politics

Religion & Spirituality

Science & Medicine

Society – Culture

Sports & Recreation

Technology

TV & Film

Just like the nomination process, the Peoples Choice Podcast Awards winners are determined via online voting, which officially open Sunday, May 29th.

The Academy of Podcasters Awards operate in a closed-ballot system. Finalists are chosen by the Academy, and only members of the Academy are allowed to vote for shows in these categories:

Arts

Business

Comedy

Education

Fiction

Food & Drink

Games & Hobbies

Health & Fitness

History

Kids & Family

Music & Commentary

News & Politics

Religion & Spirituality

Science & Medicine

Society & Culture

Sports & Recreation

Technology

TV & Film

Academy of Podcasters Awards winners will be announced during a ceremony on Wednesday, July 6th in conjunction with the Podcast Movement conference.

With the exception of the People’s Choice award, winners were chosen by members of the Academy of Podcasters based on nominees that were selected earlier this year. The People’s Choice award was decided by a live online poll that took place during the awards ceremony.

Congratulations to all of the podcasters who received a trophy at this year’s awards!

Hat tip to Christopher Hutton for his coverage of Podcast Movement and the awards ceremony.

Marc Maron began his career as a standup comedian. He also hosted a show on the Air America radio network. He started the WTF podcast in 2009. The show has acquired a large and loyal fanbase due to Maron’s candid interviews with professional comedians and other celebrities. WTF also made major headlines last month when Maron interviewed President Barack Obama.

Podcast Movement has definitely been on a roll this year and bringing in Marc Maron as a last-minute replacement for Glenn Beck is sure to make a lot of podcasters happy. Tickets for the conference are still available and in honor of today’s news, Podcast Movement is offering a special $100 discount by using the code MARON100 at checkout.